Malaysia Airlines confirms having lost contact with MH17

KUALA LUMPUR, July 17 (Xinhua) -- Malaysia Airlines said Friday in a statement that it confirmed having received notification from the Ukrainian air traffic control that it had lost contact with flight MH17 at 14:15 GMT some 30 km from the Tamak waypoint, approximately 50 km from the Russia-Ukraine border.

It said the Boeing 777 departed Amsterdam at 12:15 p.m. ( Amsterdam local time) and was estimated to arrive at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport at 6:10 a.m. (Malaysia local time) the next day.

According to the statement, there were 280 passengers and 15 crew onboard the plane.